Musing on The Old Year and The New

We are about to enter a new month, new year, and a new decade. That's a lot of 'new' for us to handle. The newspapers and tv news reporters are all looking back at the events of 2019. I prefer to look forward to what might be happening in this next year. 

Not that looking back doesn't have its merits. It does. For one thing, it helps us see where our country or our career or family interactions were positive and places that we might have done better. That goes for our writing world, too.  If looking back helps us do better in the coming year, then I'm all for it. But if retreading the past is a downer, then let's forget it. 

I do like to look over my Submissions record for this last twelve months. How many times did I submit? How many subs were actually accepted? What are my feelings about those two things? Will checking this record help me in 2020? I think it can if I pay close attention to my questions posed to myself. 

We'll leave the actual goal-setting for next year until January is actually upon us, which is only hours away.

If you're a list maker, try the following. For your title, use My Writing Life in 2019. On one side put Things I Wanted To Do and Things I Did either next to it or underneath. I find that lists are helpful when making an assessment. You can see at a glance where you need to improve and where you should feel satisfied.

Give some thought to what you hope to do differently in your writing life in 2020. Does that number make you sit up and take notice? It does for me. The 1920s were a time of peace, prosperity, prohibition, flapper fashions and more. Look at the list of well-known authors from that era

• Ezra Pound.
• Gertrude Stein.
• Ernest Hemingway.
• Langston Hughes.
• Edith Wharton.
• T.S. Eliot.
• F. Scott Fitzgerald

How many of them are you familiar with, have read their works? Their style of writing might be quite different from the current literature we read, but they will always be known for good writing, for having made a mark on the literary world, and for entertaining untold thousands. Who will be our top writers of the 2020s? An unknown at this point. A few familiar names perhaps and some we've yet to hear at this point.

I have already set one goal for 2020, and it's a big one. I'll need to focus and push myself to accomplish my objective. I'll also need to continue on my everyday writing journey, as well. 

I wish the best of all things in your writing world during this brand new year coming up, oh so soon. I hope the rejections will be fewer and hurt less, that your acceptance rate will climb, and you find that you are still passionate about writing. 

Writers--Nix the Negativity!

I read a fascinating article/essay in Saturday's Wall Street Journal about the role of positives vs negatives in our lives. Of course, I equated it to the writing life, as well as my own personal life.

Psychologists studied the topic thinking the positives in life would be the stronger of the two. Much to their surprise, the opposite outcome resulted from their studies. The essay in the WSJ was adapted from a new book by John Tierney, a contributing editor to City Journal and Dr. Roy F. Baumeister, a research psychologist at the University of Queensland. The title of their book is The Power of Bad:  How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It--to be published by Penguin Press this week.

They found that bad health makes a bigger difference than good health, that a negative photo stimulates more electrical activity in the brain than a positive one, that " ...the pain of criticism is much stronger than the pleasure of praise." More about the book, its reviews, and the place to order can be found here.

The book deals with life in general, politics and more, but the portion I read made me consider our writing journeys. With the theory the authors present--that the negatives are far stronger than the positives we encounter--is it any wonder that writers get depressed with those rejections, bumpy roads to publication, and all the other little things in our writing lives that could be classified as negative? Look at that quote once more: "...the pain of criticism is much stronger than the pleasure of praise." It makes it seem as though we are up against a very tall wall in our writing journey. We know the 'pain of criticism' all too well.

Look at the woman in the photo above. It's pretty obvious that she's experiencing the negatives, isn't it? According to the authors of the book reviewed in the article, she will need to have a ratio of four positives to one negative to overcome those nasty feelings. If our negatives are so much stronger, we writers must work harder to overcome them and focus on the positives in our writing life. 

Granted, there are days when focusing on the good stuff isn't so easy. You'll need to work at doing so. We can't just say Oh, la-de-dah, everything's coming up roses. You may have to search hard to achieve that 4 to 1 ratio. If you're a list maker, start the negative and positive lists for your writing life. I hope you can make the positive list a great deal longer than the other one. 

We're at the threshold of a new year which seems to be a perfect time to make nixing the negativity one of your goals for 2020. Remember this--the more negatives you allow into your writing life, the harder it will be to focus on the positives. Once again, it's all up to you to overcome the downers. Maybe reading this brand new book might help. 

Simple Advice for Writers

In mid-November, I posted a review of an anthology for writers. The book cover is above.  The book consists of stories, essays, and poems by several writers. At the end of each offering is a prompt that might have inspired what they wrote and also a paragraph or two of advice for writers. 

Ahhh, advice. It can be given, but is it always accepted? Not by a longshot. Sometimes, we read the advice of other writers with a shield in front of us. The attitude can be Go ahead, teach me something I don't already know. At other times, we're wide open to any advice given. We want to soak it up like water in a sponge. 

I've been skimming through the book again looking at the advice the writers offered. I consider it a gift to us, the writer-readers. I'm not going to quote from the book but have chosen bits and pieces of the advice that was given to share with you. Many of the writers repeated similar advice. I find that, when multiple people advise the same thing, I'd better pay attention.

Advice from other writers:

• Don't be afraid to share your work
• Join a writing group
• Write!
• Try different mediums of writing
• Never stop growing as a writer
• Find a special place to write that is your own
• Learn from your failures

Nearly every one of those pieces of advice has appeared in a blog post here at some time, and often more than once. The reason being that whatever that bit of suggestions for writers to heed is important enough to bear repetition. 

One of the reasons I especially liked this anthology for writer-readers is that it offers more than the stories, poems, and essays. The prompts are excellent help for writing exercises, and the advice is worth a great deal. These writers put in a nutshell what some need an entire book to explain. An additional plus is the short bio of each writer. 

The pieces of advice in this book and on this blog are simple things. Nothing so technical or intricate that others scratch their heads when they read them. Do all those little things, and you'll be on top of your game. 

Holiday Wishes to My Readers

Wishing all my readers who celebrate Christmas a very special Merry Christmas. I hope you will be with friends and family some part of the holiday, and if not, that you can reach out with your phone to someone you care about. We don't all get to go home for Christmas, but the memories of Christmases past can still warm our hearts. 

There are always some people who say they don't like Christmas, that it never comes up to expectations. That may be true, especially if we set our expectations too high. It's Christmas, but there are still lonely people and people who are seriously ill, people who have lost loved ones. Even so, Christmas is there for all if we keep in mind that very first Christmas in Bethlehem. 

We have made Christmas commercial, full of gifts and parties and decorating and baking. That's all wonderful, as long as we also focus on the true meaning of Christmas. As Christians, we were given a gift, a miracle and for many reasons, even if we don't see clearly all the time what they are. 

My Jewish friends are celebrating their sacred holiday of Hanukkah now, too. They will have parties, decorate, bake special foods and attend religious services. They'll gather with friends and families, too. I've always liked the two holidays coming close together. 

As you go to church services and open gifts, then gather around the laden table for a special meal with others, take a good look around you. There are stories in every direction, waiting for you to write them. Do you have that pad and pencil nearby to jot down bits and pieces? We take pictures with cameras and our phones on these special occasions, but you can also use that 'writer's eye' kind of camera to record special moments. 

The next post will be on Friday, December 27th. We will be spending a couple days with our daughter's family. I wish you all the merriest of Christmases and the happiest Hanukkah--whichever holiday you celebrate. 

Moving Down The Writer's Path

This poster quote should make you sit up and take notice. One of the faults writers tend to have is to want to be a true success in a short time after they began writing. 

I've mentioned more than once the story of a woman I knew who had posted a couple of stories on a website open to anyone to post. She had gotten some nice compliments from readers, so she decided that she'd become a professional writer so she quit her job and stayed home to write. And she wrote and wrote but didn't make any money. She dived into the deep end of the pool without doing a little research, without understanding that you build your writing world slowly, without thinking about her loss of income with no paying job. In the end, she gave up and started a business in her home. 

The writer's journey moves slowly. It sometimes feels like a Turtle Trail. It's those small efforts that are repeated day in and day out as the poster states that help us move along at a sure pace. It might not be the speed we hope for, but remember than any progress is a positive in the life of a writer.

What are some of those small efforts you should be making? 

• doing writing exercises on a regular basis
• reading about writing in magazines and reference books
• writing as soon as inspiration hits
• writing the first draft, then edit and revise several days later
• joining a critique group
• socialize with other writers and listen carefully to the conversations about writing
• studying markets
• immerse yourself in some form of writing every day
• learn from rejections

There are more, of course, but if you do all of the above, you're going to move step by step along your writer's path. Don't be in too much of a hurry. Doing so could come back to bite you. I think about my friend now and then. If she'd followed some of the small efforts listed above, she might have had some real success in her writing world. 

Can Dreams Help Writers?

To sleep, to dream...

Can dreams be an inspiration for writers? I know they can as probably the best poem I ever wrote was inspired by a dream. The dream was so vivid that when I woke up, I could still see the people, the setting, hear the noise and more. Two lines kept popping into my head, so I headed straight to my laptop and typed them. passengers on a train, gypsies going nowhere. I used no caps, just wrote the words. They seemed to flow from my subconscious. Later. I left the poem with no caps as it seemed to work.

I typed a third line and a fourth and kept going until I had quite a lengthy poem that turned out to be about aging. I know why I started writing immediately upon waking. Only a week or so earlier I had been to a writer's conference where one of the presenters was a poet from New York. She tossed out so many ideas that it was hard to absorb all of them, but one thing stayed with me. She said that, if you dream something that is still with you in the morning, something you want to write about, do it immediately. Wait until you showered, had breakfast, drank your coffee and the best parts will have floated back into dreamland never to be seen again. 

Many writers keep pad and pencil on their bedside table so that, if they wake in the night after a dream that seems meaningful, they can write down the basics to use the next day. It's possible that writers have more vivid dreams than non-writers. How that would be proven is a mystery. I would venture to say that I believe writers are creative and so are their dreams.

We all have projects that we're working on that give us trouble spots. Can you put it aside and later dream the answer? I think it's possible, but it's not a given. 

I know people who say they never remember their dreams. I remember mine when I wake up and even think about them occasionally later in the day. I think our dreams tell us something, but it's up to us to figure out the key. We don't necessarily dream of our exact situation but something that could be interpreted as what our situation is, or perhaps compared to.

The answers to your trouble spots aren't always going to be answered in a dream, but it can happen. It's why we need to pay attention to the content of our dreams. If you have an urge to write after having a dream, follow it. Don't wave it aside.

As for my poem, it has been published more than once and was the basis for an abstract art painting. The large painting was exhibited along with many others of this particular artist. Each painting had been done with inspiration from a group of poems she selected. I did tweak it a bit after that initial writing but only a little.

I had one other experience that led to a personal essay prompted by a dream. I had a wonderful teacher in the 5th and 6th grades. I dreamed of him one night, and the urge to write woke me up. I got up in the middle of the night and wrote the first draft of that later-published essay.

Writing from a dream may only happen to you a handful of times, or perhaps never. Still, it is something to ponder. Put that pad and pencil on your bedside table just in case. 

Gifts for Writers

Since this is the gift-giving season, have you thought of a gift you might give to a writer friend? Or one you might put on your own I want... list? 

Here are a few suggestions for gifts writers would appreciate:

• A morning of babysitting your kids so you can write
• A book on writing
• A package of printer paper all tied up in a pretty ribbon
• Offer a free edit for one short story or essay
• Journals to write in
• Lunch out where writing is the main topic of conversation
• A prepared dinner to give the writer more time to write

Some of you may come up with other gift suggestions for writers. If you do, put them in the comments section below. 

We give gifts to someone because we care about them. It doesn't matter what you spent on the gift. It's the thought that goes into giving the gift. I received a small gift from a friend this morning; it was a homemade fudge topping that Ken and I will both enjoy. It pleased me as much as a gift someone had spent lots of cash on would. It's special to me because this particular person took the time to make the gift and that she cared enough to bring it to me. 

Put some thought into your gift-giving. I have a vision of stories being written about gifts received or given. 

Half A Daddy For Christmas--A Memory

My family never had a coach and four like this, but it is such a pretty winter scene that I decided to use it today. We talked about writing your holiday stories yesterday. I'm going to share one that I've subbed to Chicken Soup for the Soul more than once, but it was not accepted for a Christmas book. Maybe one of you can tell me what is missing here. Or perhaps nothing is missing, and they just had too many good stories to select from. Either way, this is a sample to help you create your own Christmas memory story.

Half A Daddy For Christmas

Christmas Eve finally arrived. I’d finished baking, the gifts were under the tree, and we’d carried out our family tradition of driving around to look at homes ablaze with holiday lights on the way home from church. Our two children were out of the car as soon as Ken pulled into the garage. We followed close behind, reaching the kitchen just as the phone rang.
   
 Ken answered, and after a short conversation he said, “Thank you for letting me know.” He turned to me. “That was the nursing home. One of my customers passed away tonight, and I’ve got to let the family know.”
   
 Ken headed a trust department in a bank. He needed to inform the family of the death of a customer as soon as possible. But it was Christmas Eve! The lady who died had only one relative that he knew of—a sister who lived far away from our state of Kansas. He needed to talk with her and find out if there were other living relatives.

The kids were in the family room shaking packages under the tree, but I didn’t bother to tell them to keep their hands off the gifts as I usually did. I waited, anxious to hear what he was going to do.
   
“I haven’t got the heart to call with news like this on Christmas Eve. I’ll wait til tomorrow. I’ve got the sister’s number in the file at the bank.”
   
Kirk and Karen abandoned the gaily wrapped presents when I offered them Christmas cookies for a bedtime snack. Their dad didn’t join in. In fact, he turned on the TV and said very little to anyone, unlike him on a festive evening like this one.
   
Ken spent a restless night and beat everyone out of bed. When the kids and I got downstairs, he had a fire blazing and Christmas music playing softly. Our children checked out what Santa had brought them and what he’d left in their stockings while I put the coffee on. Next, we opened gifts but it felt like there was only half a daddy in the room. His mind dwelled on an elderly lady in Seattle.
   
After I served a big breakfast, Ken left for the bank to make the phone call to Seattle. I hoped the light of Christmas Day made it easier for the woman to hear the news than the darkness of Christmas Eve.
   
The kids played with new toys while I made some preparations for our mid-day holiday dinner. We’d call our families back in Illinois later in the day. An hour went by and well into the second hour, I started to worry. The bank was locked, but Ken had his own key. He was there all alone, and what if the police saw a shadowy figure inside? What if they shot first and asked questions later? Just as panic grabbed a tight hold on me, he walked in the door. Even though I noted the concern on his face, relief washed over me.

 “I called the sister,’ he said, “but I couldn’t get her to understand. I think she has dementia. I have to call again.”
   
 Kirk wanted his dad to play a new game with him, but his request was met with, “Not now.” An unusual response from a caring dad.
   
I listened to Ken talking to the woman in Seattle while I peeled potatoes. His kindness and his patience seemed to never end as he tried to make sure the lady actually understood his message. After many repetitions, he finally gave up and ended the call. He paced the kitchen and passed right by a dish of fudge on the counter, something he’d never do under normal circumstances.
   
“All I can do is see if the Seattle police can get a social worker to go out and talk with this woman.”  He needed information about any other family before funeral arrangements could be made, and he also felt a moral obligation.
   
He called the Seattle police department and spoke with an officer there who told him there were no social workers. “It’s Christmas Day!” The man’s voice was so loud I heard him across the room and that’s when my husband ran out of kindness and patience.
   
In a raised voice, he informed the officer that both of them were working even though it was Christmas Day and it’s a sure thing that there’s a social worker on call. Both our children listened with wide eyes. This was not the daddy they knew. The call ended with the policeman’s assurance that the task would be taken care of before day’s end.

Christmas Day went on with a special roast duck dinner eaten from the good china, phone calls to and from family and quieter than usual children. They were well aware they had only half a daddy this Christmas.  His mind seemed to center on what was happening in Seattle in the apartment of an elderly woman who’d lost her sister.
   
The next day at work, he received a call from the social worker who’d made the visit. She assured him that the sister had finally understood the sad news she’d brought.
   
That Christmas, my husband’s kind, patient way with a stranger felt like another gift, one that did not come wrapped in shiny paper with a big bow, but one that I loved and treasured then, and still do. Our children may have only had half a daddy that Christmas, but over the years he’s made up for it. Besides that, our children learned how much he cared about doing the right thing.

(c)

Writers--Strike While the Iron is Hot!

You might wonder why I have used the Merry Christmas photo above when it is 9 days prior to that holiday. I did have a reason which came to me yesterday as we were driving home from Texas after visiting our son's family. Ken was driving, and I was doing the thinking. The title of today's post is a definite cliche, but it fit quite well as I pondered my topic for Tuesday.

It makes sense to submit a story regarding a holiday at least six months prior to the time it is celebrated--whether Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Valentine's Day, Groundhog Day, Mother's Day or Easter. That's all well and good, but it's not so easy to write a Christmas story in May or June. You could, but maybe the emotion wouldn't be as great, the glow might have faded, and your memory might not serve you well. 

So why not write your Christmas stories now? We saw three Christmas shows in Branson the first week of the month, and I was truly inspired to write something about Christmas. There are programs at your children's' schools or churches that might trigger a story idea. Shopping for gifts or the ingredients you need to make those special holiday treats could also be an inspiration. But it's NOW! Not next April. 

I can hear a good many of you saying something like Does she think I have time to write a Christmas story now when I'm already behind in my preparations? I get it. I'm there, too. What you can do is write the first draft, write a series of phrases that have popped into your head during December. Get the bones now and flesh it out in January or February. If you do that and start working on it some snowy January day, you could play some Christmas music to help bring the mood back. Or keep your Christmas cards, then look through them. Those Christmas thoughts might return to you. 

I've used Christmas stories as an example primarily because that is the season we are in now, but it works with any holiday story. 

When the story is finished, make a list of places you want to submit to and start sending it to the first one. If it is rejected, move on to the next one. You can also send simultaneous submissions if the guidelines say they accept simultaneous subs. I prefer not to do that as I once got myself in trouble that way. Two publications sent me an acceptance within a day of one another. I had to choose to withdraw one, and that was not easy. I felt bad as both editors wrote a very nice acceptance letter. I vowed to never do simultaneous submissions again. I think what happened to me is not the norm; it was more of a unique situation.

Old Photos can Tell a Story

S

Over the weekend, my post was a review of a brand new book that will help you write interesting family stories. One section of the book addresses using old photos to help with the writing.

The photo above is me with my mother and father. You don’t want to give only a glance at a photo. Study it.

In this one, we’re told who the three people are because my mother wrote on the bottom. I know where the picture was taken because I recognize (now) The backyard of my grandmother’s bakery. Can you tell what era it is by my mother’s dress? And because if the black and white snapshot. All three of us are smiling. That means it was a happy occasion. You also know it is my first birthday. Because we are at Grandma’s small neighborhood bakery, I am fairly sure she baked the cake and put the one candle in it. I can also surmise that she took the picture. Can you also determine the season?  A hint is that my mother is wearing a short-sleeved dress. So, it is spring or summer. It is actually late May.

When you look at old family pictures, take in details as well as who is in the photo. Some old photos will trigger long-buried memories. Some will leave you with questions that will require more research, maybe some interviews with family members.

My husband and I went through an album that his aunt put together for our oldest granddaughter when she was very small. At the time, we wondered why this aunt, who had no children, chose our little granddaughter as the recipient. Now, years later, I think she chose the next family historian with her gift. She chose well as that granddaughter is a high school English teacher and a writer. Those old photos and the notations.with them could be the basis for many family stories.

Check out your own family photos from this generation and earlier ones to help you write your family stories. Remember to take time to study each photo. Ask yourself a few questions as to who, when, where, why. Ask others if you don’t know the answers.

A Fine New Book on Writing Family Stories

If you've been wanting to write your family stories but didn't know where to begin or how to approach the writing, I have good news for you. Annette Gendler has a new book that will help you. How to Write Compelling Stories from Family History is a terrific How-To guide to assist you in preserving family stories that should not be forgotten.

Annette Gendler teaches a memoir class at StoryStudio in Chicago and has written a fine memoir of her own titled Jumping Over Shadows. She has also been widely published in magazines and newspapers with more family stories. 

Gendler firmly believes that our family shapes us and that writing their stories helps us to understand them. She uses her own family as examples as she lays out a do-able plan for you to write your own family stories that can be described as 'compelling.' 

Each section of the book concludes with a prompt to help you start writing. The explanations in each section are clear and concise. She discusses interviews, photos, research and much more.

She raises questions that anyone writing family stories might have and then answers those questions in a way that new writers can clearly understand. The book would be a help to both experienced writers and those who have never written before.

One of the final sections of the book offers sample stories by several writers. These true stories are followed by works cited and suggested further reading, as well as a final note from Ms. Gendler. 

If you've ever had thoughts about writing your family stories, this is the book for you. Hear from the author herself at her website. There is even a spot to ask a question and receive an answer from this expert in writing family stories. Purchase the ebook or paperback at Amazon for yourself or for a gift for others interested in preserving family history. 

Writers Face Problems

The quote above is anonymous, but whoever coined it must have been a wise person. When I read it, I naturally equated it to my writing life, even though it could definitely apply to almost any part of your life. 

Staying with the writing life--If you've been dissatisfied with the results of your writing, your submissions or your publication history, it can be a definite downer. The more you fret, the farther down the writing abyss you might slide. The farther down you go, the harder it will be to get back to feeling good about your writing life. 

So why not choose to take a chance and make some changes? Go through your files and read past writing with an objective eye. When I read something I wrote 2, 3 or more years ago, I am always amazed at how many things I see that I should have done differently. Make a list of the items you think you might have done better. It might be using a form of the 'to be' verb too often. It could be repeating words too close together or overuse of adjectives and adverbs. It's possible that clarity for the reader is your problem. Whatever it is, you'll begin to see it when you read those old files.

List 2 should be what changes in your writing you want to make. If your ego is too big to admit that you need to make some changes, then you'll continue feeling unhappy with your writing life. It's not that hard for any of us to say I like a lot of what I write, but I can do better. Say it, believe it, then do it!

What if you are not happy with the way your submissions have been going. You're getting far more rejections than acceptances. That's a pretty common problem for all writers, but it's to your benefit to see if you can figure out why you're not being accepted as often as you'd like. I knew a writer who thought her writing was good enough to be published. The stories were good, but her mechanics of writing were pretty sad--misspellings, too many spaces or not enough, poor punctuation and more. Editors don't have the time or the desire to correct your mechanical errors. Again, use your objective eye when looking at this situation. 

What if you're afraid to submit your work even when you feel good about what you've written? It happens a lot. If you've ever felt this way, you're most definitely not alone. If I submit, I might be rejected. If I submit and am published, I might have to follow up with more, but I'm not sure I can do that.

Do you keep a record of all your publications including where and the date? If not, you should. Study that record. Do you see a pattern of any kind? Was 2015 your best publication year? Is there a reason for that? If 2012 brought you the fewest publications, can you figure out why? 

Make another list showing both your strengths and weaknesses in your writing life. If you're honest with yourself, you'll know what your weaknesses are. "Man up!" as the saying goes and admit to them. You're not alone, we all have weaknesses in our writing. In the same vein, we all have certain strengths, as well. 

Take a good hard look at those 3 Cs in your writing life:  Choice, chance, and change. If you want to change, you'll have to make the choice to take a chance. 

Writing Exercise--The Sense of Smell

We've done exercises with two of the sesnses (hearing and taste) in the past few weeks. Today, let's concentrate on the sense of smell. Our nose tells us a great deal about our surroundings, doesn't it? Right now, we're in a wonderful time of year to tickle our noses.

But, we all know there are smells we delight in and those that make us want to hold our nose to block them out. Adding sensory details like this when we write helps the reader to relate, to be able to feel like they are with you rather than standing afar and reading your words. 

For the exercise, go through the list below and write a sentence or two, or even a paragraph highlighting and describing the smell. Don't only say The cookies smelled good. or The sewer smelled bad. Be a little more creative. 

• a real Christmas tree
• fresh laundry
• something baking in the oven
• smoke
• candle
• gasoline
• coffee
• a rose
• a peach
• tar
• Vicks Vapo-rub
• a loaded trash can
• baby lotion
• a wet dog
• a cigar
• meat roasting

Just this morning, I was reading through a critique one of my online writing group members did on a personal essay of mine. She suggested adding more sensory details and pointed out specific places where I might use them. I should have noticed those places when I did my revisions and editing, but they slipped right by me. By doing an exercise like above, it makes us more conscious of the need for sensory details.

I smell coffee brewing so I'm off to inhale that delightful, tantalizing smell! 

A Travel/Personal Essay--Example

Hotel Zur Linde

The Hotel Dining Room

A Guest Room

A few weeks ago I reviewed a new anthology edited by Marlene Cullen titled The Write Spot--Possibilities. One of my travel essays and a poem were included in the book, along with some writing advice from me. This essay was also published a few years ago at Dave's Travel Corner website.

Since last Friday's post was about delivering a message in your personal essays, travel essays and short memoir pieces, I am going to share my travel piece that is included in the book. It is a combination of travel/personal essay. When you read it, look for a message, a universal truth, or how I was affected. Sometimes the messages are merely inferred, not spelled out.

A Hungarian Hotel in Germany

 Our heads were fuzzy and our legs like jelly when we left the long, overnight flight from Kansas City, Missouri to Munich, Germany. After clearing passport control and getting our luggage, my husband and I headed to the rental car area of the airport. Despite our fatigue, we managed the paperwork and check-out with only a minimum of frustration. An hour later, we settled into a Mercedes C Class sedan and made our way out of the city, Ken at the wheel and map in my hand. Our second job of the day was to locate the hotel we’d booked on the internet. I’d searched diligently for a reasonably priced hotel not too far from the Munich airport. I found many, but somehow one kept calling to me, so I clicked and clicked until we were booked for the first three nights of our three-week stay in Germany.

    

The half-hour drive to Hohenlinden turned into an hour, then another hour. We learned that German roadways are excellent but that German road signs leave a great deal to be desired.  We also discovered that the GPS in our rental car was programmed in German. Useless for us. Round and round we went, on highways and byways, roundabouts and little-traveled pathways. I was near tears and Ken near eruption point when we somehow pulled into the small, rural village of Hohenlinden. Relief is far too mild a word to describe our feelings. Surely the Hotel Zur Linde would soon appear.

    

“I think it’s on the outskirts of the town,” I told Ken as he gripped the steering wheel more firmly.

     

“Not so,” he said slowing down in front of a three-story stucco building with Hotel Zur Linde painted on the side, right in the middle of town. He pulled into the side driveway and around the back to a miniscule parking area, and we walked wearily into the hotel. A small reception area appeared dark and rather uninviting, but a teen-aged girl in the office cubicle smiled, told us her name was Hanna, and greeted us so warmly, our spirits rose like a hot air balloon on a sunny day.

    

All we wanted was to go to our room, take a shower and change clothes, but it was not to be.

    

 “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Hanna said in perfect English. “You cannot go to your room until 2 p.m. But you can have lunch first. Her smile erased any irritation we might have had as she led us to the outdoor biergarten surrounded by greenery, an arbor, and sweet-smelling flowers. We could easily spend an hour and a half here.

   

A tall glass of the local beer and a bowl of Hungarian soup helped revive us. We lingered in the pleasant outdoor garden until 2 p.m. when we unloaded our luggage and stepped into a tiny elevator to go to our room. It was small but clean and nicely furnished. A big window looked out on a church across the road. The bed with a snowy white duvet, sheet and soft pillows looked so inviting.

    

Showered and clothes changed, we set off on a walk around the town. Quaint houses, small shops, and flower gardens cooled our blood pressure back to normal as we savored the quaint houses and small gardens. In one front garden, a man wearing a long cotton coat, worked with wood using a standing saw. Seeing him thrilled Ken. He told me he’d seen pictures of men doing work like that and wearing the coat to protect their clothes.

As we walked, we discussed our plan for the next day when we were to go back to the Munich airport to pick up good friends from South Africa, who would be traveling with us.

    

In the evening, we went to the formal dining room and enjoyed a leisurely and excellent meal served by a waitress who had charm plus. Several patrons ate with well-behaved dogs lying next to them. Hanna was nowhere to be seen, but her mother was the dining room hostess and hotel clerk for the evening. Mama was tall, slender and blonde, wearing a low-cut blouse and spike heels. We chatted with her and were a bit surprised to learn we had booked into a Hungarian hotel.  Good German beer and German food like roast pork, red cabbage, and potato dumplings and a few Hungarian items on the menu, so, not a problem, especially with the special way we’d been welcomed.

    

When our waitress brought our food, she asked what we would say in English to wish someone a good meal. “Enjoy!” I told her, “or even Bon Appetit!” With eyes sparkling, she called out “Enjoy!” as she hurried back to the kitchen. Our food proved to be as satisfying as the hotel itself.

We’d noticed the church across the street filled the summer air with its bells every hour on the hour--lovely bells which chimed for a couple of minutes. We strolled over to the church after dinner and found a small cemetery on one side of the building. Each plot was outlined in paving stones and perennial flowers, some with stone angels adorning the area where the marker sat. We were taken with the loving care each grave had been given and the gentle, dainty look the flowers and statues added.

Hand in hand, we crossed the road to our hotel and bed. “I can’t wait to see Mike and Mavis tomorrow,” I said to Ken.

    

At 6 a.m., the church bells began to peal. Nice, I thought, as I pulled up the duvet and snuggled deeper into my feather pillow. But the bells went on and on and…. fifteen minutes worth! Enough to wake the entire town! Surely, no one in Hohenlinden needed an alarm clock.

    

After a pleasing breakfast, we zipped into Munich in less than half an hour. Amazing what you can do when you have the proper directions. We picked up our friends at the architecturally impressive airport and brought them to Hotel Zur Linde. Our innkeeper greeted them warmly as new guests and we as old friends, having been there an entire 24 hours.

   

 “Oh, what a nice place this is,” Mavis said to me as we helped them to their room down the hall from ours. We met in the biergarten for a tall glass of beer to toast the beginning of our time together. Living halfway across the world from one another, our times together are treasured. We ate outdoors that night with many of the locals who were having a good time judging by the chatter and laughter.

The next morning I asked if there was a guest computer. “Oh yes,” the innkeeper said, and she led me to a folding screen in the breakfast room which hid the computer. I tried and tried to get onto the internet but could not find the @ on the keyboard. I finally gave up and went to the office to ask for help.

“That is a Hungarian keyboard,” the woman told me. “Come, I’ll show you what to do. ”She said to hit Shift and q and the @ would come up. Success at last, but the y and z were in the opposite places of our keyboards. Otherwise, they were the same. I finally got it figured out and was able to check my e-mail.

   

We woke each morning to the 6 o’clock bell concert. By the third morning, I was awake and waiting. Instead of being irritated at the early awakening, I looked forward to it, knowing a wonderful German buffet breakfast awaited us on the floor below. Fresh fruit, cereal, cold meats, cheeses, and hard rolls accompanied by strong coffee and a few pastries filled us to satisfaction as we lingered in the sunlit dining room.

    

Before we checked out of the hotel, we booked it again for our last night in Germany, negotiating a lower price for our return.

    

After touring the back roads, small towns and villages of southern Germany, for three weeks, we returned to Hohenlinden. When we pulled into the parking area, it almost felt like coming home. The four of us strolled into the reception area, and our Hungarian innkeeper came to greet us, three-inch heels clicking on the tile floor, her face alight with a warm welcome. We were definitely home.

    

A rainy night meant dinner in the formal dining room with a fire burning to take the chill out of the air. Good food and drink and a recap of all we’d done while touring Germany gave us a lovely final evening in the Hotel Zur Linde.

    

The grand finale came at six the next morning when the church bell concert began. I lay in the comfortable bed, listening to the swell of the bell tones, pleased that I’d found this charming small hotel, or did it find me? With so many choices, why did this one keep calling out to me?

    

We checked out after breakfast and loaded the car, ready to go to the airport. The four of us made one last trip inside for a warm farewell from the Hungarian hostess of this special hotel. The church bells rang to let us know it was eight o’clock as we drove out of town. My instinct when searching for a hotel online had served me well.

The writing prompt:  Write about a memorable travel experience.

Delivering The Message

We spent the past four days in Branson, MO with a group of friends. Branson offers first-class shows year-round, but their Christmas shows are especially popular. Singing and dancing reigned, but each show also delivered a message about the meaning of Christmas that came across very well. No guessing as to what this was all about. No wondering why they were presenting the shows. 

It made me think about those who write personal essays or memoirs. Writing about an experience is just fine, but if you don't let your reader know how you were affected or what you learned, then it's worthless. 

No editor wants to publish your travel essay if all you do is list the places you visited, where you stayed, or what you ate. Sure, that's important. Still, the reader should find out what you learned, what universal truth came to you while on your trip, or how it changed you. Deliver the message just like the old Western Union delivery boys did when they brought a telegram to someone's door.

If I write about a traumatic situation in my family, is it enough for me to describe what happened and then cut it off? No. The reader wants to know how I reacted, what my feelings were, and what I learned. More than just detailing what occurred, I need to deliver a message to my readers.

When you write a personal essay and are ready to edit and revise, questions to ask yourself are:  Have I hit on a universal truth? Have I told my readers how this affected me? Have I shared my feelings, not just facts? If your answers to those questions are negative, you are going to need to do some major revising.

I'm always advising writers to read. When you read the work of other writers, look for the answers to the questions listed above. Did they deliver the message or not? Let's face it, if all we do is list what happened and nothing else, it could end up to be a boring read. 

The next time you write a personal essay, or a short memoir piece, be sure you delivered the message.

What Happened To Those January Writing Goals?

I took a couple days off last week for the Thanksgiving holiday. I said I'd post again on Monday. However, I forgot that we are off on a four-day trip early Monday morning, so I'm posting Sunday evening and will do so again on Friday. After that, things should be back to normal.

By now, you're very much aware that it is December, the 12th month of the year. Do you remember last January when we talked about setting your writing goals for the year? I suggested that you keep your list fairly short. Setting too many goals or ones that are unrealistic can be overwhelming when you look back through the year to see what you have achieved.

I also suggested that you keep your list somewhere visible to you on a daily basis. Even if you did that, I doubt any of us would be reading that list every day. So, it's quite easy to lose track. 

When we achieve only a bare minimum, or even none, of those goals we set, it can be rather depressing. We all mean to do what we can to make each goal a reality. Then, life gets in the way. Writing is probably not the only thing in your life. You may have family responsibilities, some of us more than others. You might belong to one or two or more organizations that take up a lot of your time. The house needs cleaning, trips come up that are too good to pass up. Should you shirk your duties in these other parts of your life to give your all to achieving those goals? I think not. Finding a balance is key.

If you have your list, or even if you have it mentally, go over it. Check the goals that you did meet. Pat yourself on the back for a few seconds. Then look at the ones that are glaring at you, the ones you never got around to doing. If five are too many, pick two for 2020. Select the ones that are most important to you. Is it finishing a writing project? Or submitting your work every month of the year? Or stepping out of your comfort zone and trying to write in a new genre? 

If you're the rare person who lists goals and then meets them all by the end of the year, I salute you and hope you'll give us all a hint in the Comments below as to how you have accomplished that. 

There is no shame in not meeting all the goals you set eleven months ago. The important thing is to keep working to make each goal a done deal. Give thought to that great adage--Don't look back. That's not where you're going.

You have almost a full month left in 2019. It's a busy one with Christmas and Hanukkah looming, but maybe you can work on one of those goals that you haven't gotten to yet this year. Pick an easy one. 

What doesn't get checked off in 2019 can be the start of your goals for 2020. I have one goal that I have not worked hard enough on for the past too many years. I am determined to work toward it this next year. How about you?

My Writing Life Gratitude List

This is the time of year Americans give thanks for the bounty afforded, whether it be material things or situations or family and friends. Whatever we are grateful for. 

Today, I'm going to list what I am grateful for in my writing life. I would suggest you make a list of your own. Keep that list somewhere you see it and refer to it when those rejections come spinning in or when a story just is not working and you're totally frustrated. We do have to remind ourselves of the many good things in this crazy deal we term our 'writing life.'

What I am grateful for in my writing life:

• for the knowledge I've gained over the years
• for the joy of writing something satisfying
• for the opportunity to reach others with my writing
• for the many, many friendships I have with other writers
• for the opportunity to continue growing as a writer
• for the many publications I've had
• for having a passion for writing that has never died
• for a fine state writers organization
• for being able to write my family stories and share with my family
• for the rejections, yes, for the rejections because they have helped me grow as a writer
• for being able to connect with other writers
• for eyes and mind and hands that all allow me to write
• for being able to follow a childhood dream--"I want to be a writer."
• for the help and friendship of the women in my online critique group
• for having access to a wonderful public library
• for the ability God gave me

No doubt I'll think of more as the day goes on, but the main pieces of gratitude are included in the list above. 

I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. We will be spending the day with our daughter and her family. No post tomorrow or Friday. Let's all enjoy a little time off.

The Taste of a Lemon and Other Things, Too

Last week, I offered a post on the sense of hearing with an exercise to help writers develop that sense in their writing. If you missed it, read it here. Today, let's look at the sense of taste. After all, Americans are going to be tasting a lot of foods in a couple of days as we celebrate Thanksgiving.

When we write about food, we don't want to be generic and say The pie tasted good. or This lemon is sour. Go for more than that. The pie tasted sweet and creamy, sliding smoothly down my throat. or My lips puckered and my eyes watered as I stuffed the half-lemon into my mouth with a grimace.

Write a line or two about each of the tastes below. It's not only food that we taste. 

• toothpaste
• gravy
• chocolate chip cookies
• cough syrup
• Coconut cream pie
• chocolate
• hot peppers
• chewing gum
• cigarette
• mashed potatoes
• cranberry sauce
• cinnamon
• licorice
• beer
• ice cream

Have you noticed that your taste changes as you move from childhood to adulthood and even on to senior citizen status? Things I hated as a child are some of my favorites now. Do our taste buds actually mature? 

For a second exercise, write a paragraph about the taste you like most and the one you dislike so much it makes you shudder. 

University of Iowa Free Writing Course

There are writers who complain that they cannot attend writing courses at colleges or community colleges or other places because they don't live close enough to any of them to take advantage of them. Online writing courses wipe out that excuse---oops, I mean reason. Another reason people don't sign up for these courses is money. There are some fine ones that will cost you nothing but your time.

Yesterday, I received notice of an online course offered for free from the University of Iowa through their International Writing Program. The name of it is Hidden Meanings:  Creative Fiction, Non-Fiction & Facts. This is the newest one of many offered free because of grants the university has. The program itself is called MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)

The course can be taken on your own schedule from now through December 31. It's a good opportunity as there will be no more free online courses through this program in 2020. Go here to sign up and see more info re the course. My biggest concern is that it comes at a very busy time of year for most people.

The course is open to all writers at all levels anywhere in the world. The University of Iowa's writing programs are highly regarded.

If you would like to see past courses, which you can still do online, go to this site.  Scroll down to the two boxes that say How to Use This Site and View the Mooc-Packs and check out the several available at no cost.

If you go to a search engine and use 'free online writing courses,' you'll see a good selection. I would advise checking into them before signing up. I'm certain some are better than others. But, since it's free, you don't have a lot to lose. There are many online writing courses that charge various amounts, many being several hundred dollars. Will you get a lot more from them? I have no idea, but that old adage comes to mind--you get what you pay for. That might not always hold true. One of the free courses could be just right for you while the costly one might not. The problem here is that you won't know unless you pay the money and take the class.

Mentoring a New Writer

I was asked yesterday if I would consider mentoring a high school student (senior) who is writing a novel. His English teacher feels he would benefit from having a mentor to give him some guidance as he continues working on the novel.

It's something I would enjoy doing, but I am not a novelist. Writing a full book is quite different from the shorter pieces I write--stories, creative nonfiction, memoir, inspirational, fiction for children, and poetry. I feel like he needs a mentor who has written a novel. So, I put some feelers out in my local community to see if any of the novelists would consider mentoring this young man. 

Have you ever considered mentoring a beginning writer? Maybe you've never been asked, and maybe you never offered. If mentoring a writer is something you think you'd like to do, contact your local high school, Junior College, Community College or University to offer your service. 

What does mentoring another writer involve? 

1. Meeting one on one with the writer to establish rapport.
2. Offer honest feedback on the writer's work.
3. Help set goals
4. Offer emotional support
5. Be open-minded
6. Encourage the writer to be willing to grow

1.  We all love to email or text because it's so easy, but to mentor another writer, it's best to meet one on one. Start out by meeting for coffee or coke in a public place. Get to know a little bit about the writer and let them know your background, as well. Establish the fact that you are hoping to be of help and offer some guidance.

2.  After reading a portion, or all, of the writer's novel (or any other kind of writing), give honest feedback. I would suggest setting the stage first by telling him/her that any criticism you give is not meant to hurt but to help him/her grow as a writer. Explain that objective eyes like a mentor's see the writing differently than the person who wrote it in the first place. 

3.  Goal setting never hurts anyone. Help the writer create a list of his/her goals. Then go over them, one by one. Which are the most achievable; which are out of reach at this point?

4.  Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on now and then. Let the writer know that you'll be there to listen. (But not constantly!)

5.  You will want the writer to be open-minded, but you need to be the same. If you disagree about a point, be a big enough person to listen to the writer's side, then offer your own. Remember, few things are all right or all wrong.

6.  Encourage the writer to read books and articles on writing and to do some writing exercises to help him or her grow as a writer. Let them know that you are not going to be the one to solve all the problems, that they need to work at growing as a writer. 

So, what's in it for you, the mentor? We can all think back to our early days of writing and how we floundered now and then. Wouldn't it give you some satisfaction to help someone going through the same problems? You'd be sharing your expertise, offering a service and spreading a bit of kindness. 

One note of caution:  Early on, set times to meet. Decide if you're willing to let the writer contact you via email, text or phone call in-between those meeting times. Set your rules at your first meeting. Most writers will adhere to what you set. You want to help new writers, but you don't want to give up too much of your own writing time. 

Encourage The Love of Writing

I completely forgot I Love to Write Day on November 15th--last Friday. So, here is a post I wrote in 2012 about this national day of recognition for those who love to write, and even those who do not. 

Two things I saw on facebook this morning triggered my thoughts for this post. One was Save the Date and the other one that jumped out for me was I Love To Write Day.

November 15, 2012 will be the tenth annual I Love To Write Day. I usually feature it in my post on that mid-November day. It's the one day of the year that everyone is encouraged to write. Doesn't matter what it is--just write! A thank you note qualifies, but so does a poem, a story, a two-paragraph description or memory piece. So, mark your calendars now. Save that date!

Personally, I celebrate this day every day because writing is something that satisfies me like nothing else. I'm willing to bet that my blood pressure evens out to normal whenever I write. It pleases me to string words together in hopes that they will touch the heart and soul of at least a few people who read them. Maybe my words will provide pertinent information or entertain someone. When I finish a writing project, no matter how long or short, I have a sense of accomplishment greater than when I do anything else.

I like words. I like putting words together. I like creating stories and poems from those many words. I enjoy doing crossword puzzles because they are filled with words, unlike those sudoko puzzles that irritate me to no end. Some people love them. Must depend on whether you're a number person or one addicted to the beauty of words. There is no doubt which category I fall into.

I've heard far too many people say they hate writing. They offer a number of reasons, but one I hear frequently is that it is because of a teacher (or teachers) who made it a chore instead of pleasure or who ridiculed the results of an assigned essay. Sad that they who should be the greatest proponents of writing for enjoyment sometimes end up being the biggest discouragers. Maybe part of it is because we were often assigned the topic, not left to create our own subject. On the other hand, when the teacher said to write on anything of your choice, we sometimes sat there with a blank slate in our mind.

I hope that teachers and parents will encourage children to write. We push reading at all levels today, which is wonderful. But I'd like to see more emphasis placed on writing. Mary Lane Kamberg, a Kansas author, has a fine book of tips for young people who want to write. She includes exercises in The I Love To Write Book--Tips and Ideas for Young People.

Whether you are a teacher, a parent, or a grandparent, I hope you will do what you can to promote the joy of writing to the young people you know today. There's plenty of time before November 15th to plan an event or project to celebrate I Love To Write Day

The Whistle of a Train--A Sensory Detail

Let's look at the things we hear, one of the sensory details we put in our fiction, personal essays, family stories, and even poetry. 

This morning, I was catching up on email when I heard the whine of a train whistle, blown several times. I wondered if it was the historic Union Pacific train, known as Big Boy, making its way across Kansas this week in celebration of 150 years of the Transcontinental Railroad. It was due to stop here in our town at 9:30 a.m. 

The sound of that whistle made me stop and listen. I always liked to hear the train whistles when I was a child. We lived across the street from the railroad tracks, so we were treated to that arresting sound on a frequent basis. I can remember being in bed on a summer night, windows open, hoping for the train to come by and announce its presence. When I did hear it, I wondered where it was going. My own world in those days was quite small, but I knew a train went to many places.

What do you think of when you hear a train's whistle? Does it trigger any memories for you? Do you think of it as mournful or cheerful? Is it different at nighttime when the train moves through the darkness than it is on a sunny day? 

The train whistle is only one of many sounds we put into our writing. You don't want to say The train blew its whistle. Your reader knows what a train whistle sounds like, but why not enlarge on it to make it more interesting? The train's whistle whined loudly as it passed by the crossing gates, growing dimmer and dimmer as it sped down the track. 

Try writing a sentence or two for each of the sounds below giving your reader a clear picture of the sound. Avoid cliches. Delve into your memory bank.

• jet plane
• waves on the shore
• ball hitting a baseball bat
• washing machine
• school bell
• air brakes on a bus
• popcorn popping
• crying child
• church bells
• piano
• cow mooing
• birdsong

Adding sensory details, like hearing, can bring your writing to life. Don't be a generic writer who only lists the main points and neglects the small details that make writing a pleasure for the reader.